Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1887-04-27
i MOONLIGHT FOX CHASE.

a MOONLIGHT FOX CHASE.
II vIvsessus Picture ef = rfsteen- Year
Ola Msmory.
lAmsrscan EYeld.l
Some fifteen years ago / was . DO,
in my teens, but an enthusiastic lover
Of the chase and an ardent admirer o
the fair sex. / could never quite de
eide In my own mind which was deares
to my heart-the girls or the hounds
1t il true / went to see the girls oftenel
than I went fox-hunting, but many I
time and oft have / cut short a WISH
was pretty,t 0 go home to give to Rowdy
and Rival their evening meal and sec
that they were comfortably housed fol
the night. / had learned to hunt under
the old squire, an old-time Virgins
gentleman, who, although past three
score years, was . boy in his ardent
admiration Of the chase, and q desirable
partner but dreaded opponent in q game
OF marbles or quoits. Oh. many Q
game OF seven-up, of euchre, Of whist,
and Of d~raw-poker have / enjoyed
around his hospitable board. Peace be
to his ashes; he is now no more, but
his memory shall ever be dear to my
heart. He once paid me q compliment
| can never forget. After an unusually
long and unsuccessful days ride he
turned to me, calling me by name, and
said: II have raised eight IONS and
taught them all to hunt, and have also
taught Q good many other boys, but
you are the only one who would ride
over with me all day and be as eager to
hunt at night as you were in the morn
ing; like myself, yon know when
TO quit" We had Q very dry season
tho latter part Of the summer and
early fall, and could not take the dogs
ont, somewhat to our chagrin. One
day by the way of consolation I rode
over to see my elderly friend, and
while there the rain began to fall and
we hoped for an old-fashioned "dog
mire," but were disappointed, for just
before shutdown the clouds broke away
and the beautiful rainbow declared
that the rain was over. IF we had
your dogs and Georges we would go
out tonight on McGraw bridge and
start . young fox" This was enough
for me. Il will have my dogs and
Georges here in less than an hour"
was my reply. The distance from his
house to my grandfather's, where /
lived, was between three and four
miles, and almost an unlimited number
of gates and draw-bars to contend with
but my pony. Old Rabbit, was fond of
the sport, and 1 whispered in his ear
and told him what was on hand. In an
hours time / had returned with my two
hounds and with George and his two,
which, added to the old squire's five,
made nine ss good, rafting. red-fox
hounds 81 any neighborhood ever had.
The squire was ready, as were two or
three of his sons. Two black boys en-
ployed on the farm were told that If
they desired it they might get q pair of
unused horses and accompany us, and
this they did with great gusto, thinking
it q great thing to go fox-hunting along
with the gentlemen" on horseback.
These boys were very useful that night
pulling down and putting up fences.
We had gone about q mile when the
glorious full moon arose in its splendor,
making it almost light enough to see to
read. In q few moments after we en-
tered q bank Of mist which was so dense
that in the moonlight it looked almost
like wool. After passing through it
we skirted its eastern border, with the
moo on n side and the bank on the
other, and then saw what I never saw
before or since-a lunar bow. l had
supposed that il was colored like the
solar bow. but l was mistaken; it was
~ white rs a sheet and not more than
ten steps from us. It was an arc of a
circle Of about fifteen feet radius and
about one and . half to two feet in
breadth. The squire told the colored
boys if they did not ride up close to us
that the ghost would catch them. This
made their teeth chatter, and had it
not been for repeated assurances of
safety / have no idea what would have
been the result, for, as it was, they
Swallowed us closely the remainder OF
the evening. We started . young red,
and after an interesting chase the dogs
put him in the ground. Another was
started-an old red, we thought, for
he led the dogs at once to where no
rain had fallen in this partial shower,
and soon got away from them. We got
home early, but l shall ever remember
this IS n of the ~pleasantest evenings
Of my life.